Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Again it’s pumpkin season and I love trying new things. This recipe comes from Active.com and I stumbled upon it via the Couch to 5k group over on Facebook. I have had pumpkin cookies in the past, so I was anxious to try a recipe that was going to be healthier (fiber, iron, Vitamin A) for me.

To add another layer of intrigue to this post. I was making these cookies for a party, where the host’s son had a nut allergy. This began a couple of hours of searching on the internet to see what I could and could not use in the recipe – acceptable substitutions/brands etc.

I started running a few months ago and selected the Couch to 5K running plan to get things going. I recently joined the C25k group over on Facebook which has supplied me with all sorts of food and running information. Imagine my surprise when one day a cookie recipe popped up! I figured with the party coming up it would be a perfect fall treat and I was a bit burned out on making cupcakes.

I have always asked before making something if anyone had allergies, but this was the first time where someone actually had an allergy. I did not think to confirm how sensitive the allergy was and just went for the most extreme. (Note: In this instance, it would have been okay for me to use items processed in a facility with nuts.) I did not use anything that had been processed around nuts, and did not use anything if I could not verify where it was processed (storebrand vanilla extract threw me off).

I searched around the internet for allergy information, nut free baking and information on substitutions – ie: are Hershey’s chocolate chips safe to use? (The Publix chips indicated they were processed in a shared facility). I double checked all the ingredients in the recipe, wrote the product names down. Besides the nuts, I eliminated the vanilla extract (store brand) because I could not find definitive information about it and it was such a small amount anyways. There were so many things I learned about cooking for those with an allergy – things I never would have even thought of. (icing tints, nutmeg, various extracts)

Here are some of the tasty ingredients in the cookies. Butter, cinnamon, pumpkin, cloves and of course chocolate chips!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Ingredients

After all the ingredients are mixed together place on a prepared cookie sheet. I used my silicone baking sheets for this batch. The cookies came out really soft on the bottom, and I did not like the texture of it. I will admit they do look pretty! The batter was divided using a medium sized cookie scoop (#40, 1 1/2 tbs).

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Batter

After the cookies are done baking move to a wire rack for cooling. I had to wait a bit longer to move my cookies to the racks because the bottom of the cookies didn’t feel ‘set.’

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cooling

There you have it – Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. I really liked the cookies, but I felt the chocolate was a tad overpowering. Next time I may cut back the amount of chocolate chips used.

Again it's pumpkin season and I love trying new things. This recipe comes from Active.com and I stumbled upon it via the Couch to 5k group over on Facebook. I have had pumpkin cookies in the past, so I was anxious to try a recipe that was going to...